Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Saturday was an out of control kitchen day for me. I think I was trying to make up for the last few months all in the space of one afternoon. After a nice morning of spinning (Yay! I can go to an adult workout class!) and then a stroll with the family around the farmer's market, I came back to our house and proceeded to turn the kitchen upside down. For no good reason at all, except that I was apparently desperate to make things.

One of those things being jam for our moms for Mother's day. (Hi Mom! If you're reading this I spoiled part of your pressie.) I love making jam. It's so simple and so charmingly old fashioned. I have a bunch of jars on the shelf in our service porch (read laundry room, extra pantry, seed storage, etc), but instead of eating those, I continue to make more. Ah well. When a woman needs to create, she needs to create.

This time, Strawberry-Rhubarb. I love rhubarb. One day I will have my own plant, but I think I'll wait until we buy a house (or our house?) because the plants are perennials and last for decades. Neat.

This recipe is crazy simple. I found it through the magic of google on the most random site: rhubarbinfo.com. If you're looking for rhubarb recipes, this is a good place to start, though can't vouch for any of them .

Cover cut rhubarb with half of the sugar and let stand 1 to 2 hours. Crush berries and mix with remaining sugar and combine with rhubarb. Place mixture over low heat until sugar is dissolved, then boil rapidly, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Cook until thick.

I turned my batch on and off 3 times to tend to baby and definitely burned it a titch. I don't recommend this technique, but it's still pretty good. If you DON'T mess around with the timing and burning, I'm sure it's delicious.

UPDATE:

The jars are Weck, which are entirely superior in design to any other canning jars out there. You can buy them from a few different places, but the only one I can think of at the moment sans google search is Heath.

And, I did actually "can" the jam so it can be wrapped properly as a present. It's so super easy. Don't be afraid. Especially with something like jam that isn't known to grow botulism or anything fatal. It's the green beans you need to worry about. Or other things without enough salt, acid, or sugar to properly preserve whatever you've made.

Oh my I will have to make this .... I just purchased one large crate of strawberries from my local farmers' market for 5 dollars!!! I whipped up fresh cream last night to dip them in but know they would love to be boiled into a jam ... how long does the jam keep? Love this post and thank you for this recipe XO!

Jessica- the jars are Weck. They are the most cutest canning jars out there. I bought some from Sur la Table a few years ago and they're also available from Heath. You can keep using them over and over as long as you buy new gaskets each time you "can".

Rach- I did sterilize. I don't have a dishwasher either, I just sterilize in the boiling water for 10 minutes before I put the jam in. Do it!!!

Caroline - In the fridge, they say it keeps a few weeks, but if you actually "can" it, it will keep a long while on the shelf before you open it. Perfect for huge boxes of strawberries from the market!

Huzzah. As a rhubarb-obsessed Yankee I've had to hunt hi and low for the stuff out here in the desert, but believe me it's been in steady breakfast and dessert rotation in this house.

I can't wait to get busy with this recipe when things quiet down. Thanks for the great, simple, totally doable recipe, and for the info about the Weck jars! And psst...you might this loose-form rhubarb tart...

ohh, i might have to make this today! the simplicity of the recipe is my favorite part. others i've come across call for flavored gelatin, but i'd like to keep the jam as natural as possible. the jars are beautiful- how many did you end up with?

I just found Weck jars on terrain.com - they have the smaller 7.4 oz ones, but they also have a larger set of 19.6 oz. I think the big guys would be great for pickling. I'm sure folks have found them other places via google, but as I just saw them, thought it would be worth the comment, a few days late... Happy First Mother's Day Kristina!